'Mark didn't deserve to win': Vettel says defying team orders was an act of revenge

Oliver Brown in Shanghai

With astonishing candour, Sebastian Vettel admitted on Thursday night that his decision to overtake Mark Webber, his Red Bull teammate, for victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix had been an act of pure retribution. "After all that happened in the past few years, Mark didn't deserve to win," he said.

The triple world champion, underlining the irreparable feud between the pair, argued that Webber had failed to help him throughout their tense five-year partnership at Red Bull and was not entitled to the win at Sepang. "He didn't deserve it," Vettel said. "There is a conflict, because on the one hand, I am the kind of guy who respects team decisions and on the other, probably Mark is not the one who deserved it at the time."

Sanction as in punishment? Maybe it is a bit of dreamland that you all live in. What do you expect to happen?

Utterly unrepentant, Vettel argued that if he found himself in a position again to flout team orders at the Australian's expense, he would do so. "Had I understood the message, reflected on it, and thought about what the team wanted to do, I probably would have done the same," he said.

"Conflict": Sebastian Vettel, right, and Mark Webber. Photo: AFP

The 25-year-old's frictions with Webber had flared up frequently even before the incident in Malaysia, notably when he grew frustrated with his teammate for holding him up in last year's crucial final race in Brazil.

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Here, ahead of Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix, Vettel indicated that his refusal to hold station behind Webber in Kuala Lumpur had been borne of revenge. Asked if he felt he had achieved "payback", he said: "You could say that, indirectly."

This was hardly the model of contrition we had witnessed in Malaysia, where Vettel had conceded his mistake and offered an unconditional apology to Webber. Under rigorous inquisition here, he argued that the pair's fractious past had led to the decision to pass Webber in a ferocious late-race duel.

Australian driver Mark Webber. Photo: Getty Images

"I never had support from his side," he said. "I respect him a lot as a racing driver, but there was more than one occasion in the past where he could have helped the team and he didn't." On the question of whether they still trusted each other, Vettel replied: "I wouldn't call it trust, to be honest. I think we have a professional relationship."

Vettel and his elder sidekick also had a memorable confrontation in Turkey in 2010, when they blamed each other for a crash that ended both their hopes of winning, and at Silverstone the following year, as Webber was told to stay behind but continued to attack.

This was a performance to illustrate where the true authority at Red Bull resided, as Vettel scoffed at any suggestion that he had been sanctioned for his disobedience. "There are a lot of marks on my back," he said, grinning broadly. "I did apologise [to the team] and I meant it."

Then, with all the attitude of one with three world titles at the age of 25, he added: "Sanction as in punishment? Maybe it is a bit of dreamland that you all live in. What do you expect to happen?"

The frosty tone of the exchanges had been set from the very first question, when Vettel was pressed on how it felt to be "the bad guy" after previously being portrayed as a paragon of virtue. "I don't consider myself to be the bad guy," he insisted. "I don't think I did something that was particularly bad."

Given such defiance, it was little wonder Helmut Marko, director of motorsport at Red Bull, had expressed his preference this week for a ban on team orders by the reigning constructors' champions.

Webber, making his first public comments since escaping the row with a surfing break back home in Australia, suggested that he was considering his future at Red Bull. "Come the summer, I will talk to Dietrich [Mateschitz, the Red Bull co-owner]," said the 36-year-old, now in the final year of his contract. "I haven't made any decision yet. I am keen to continue the season."

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton suffered a health scare as he was forced to spend yesterday in his Shanghai hotel with symptoms of an allergy. The 2008 world champion missed his scheduled press engagements as Mercedes confirmed he was experiencing eye and nose problems. Hamilton had made an early visit to the circuit but returned to his city-centre hotel feeling unwell.

Hamilton was said by his team to require a period of rest ahead of Sunday's race. Shanghai has been affected by serious air pollution levels in recent weeks.